Megan McKenna

Megan Elizabeth McKenna (born 26 September 1992) is an English television personality, singer and businesswoman. After making appearances on Ex on the Beach (2015–2016), she received wider attention for appearing on Celebrity Big Brother (2016) and The Only Way Is Essex (2016–2017). McKenna then launched her music career, releasing her debut studio album, Story of Me (2018), and later went on to win The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019.

Megan McKenna
McKenna performing in December 2017
Born
Megan Elizabeth McKenna

(1992-09-26) 26 September 1992
Barking, London, England
EducationArts Educational Schools
Occupation
  • Television personality
  • singer
  • businesswoman
Years active2009–present
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentsVocals
Labels

Early life

McKenna was born on 26 September 1992 in Barking, London.[1] In her autobiography, Mouthy, McKenna explained that as a child, she was bullied at school.[2] In order for her to attend the Arts Educational School to study musical theatre, her family relocated to Chiswick.[2]

Career

In 2009, McKenna reached the semi-finals of third series of Britain's Got Talent as part of the music duo Harmony.[3] In the same year, she appeared in an advertisement for the second series of The Inbetweeners.[4] McKenna appeared in an episode of The Only Way Is Essex in 2010, where she auditioned to be part of the girl group LOLA.[5] As part of LOLA, she performed at T4 Stars of 2010.[6] She also auditioned for The X Factor twice, making it to bootcamp each time.[6]

In 2015, McKenna appeared on the third series of MTV reality series Ex on the Beach.[6] She returned to the programme for the fourth series, alongside Jordan Davies.[7] She departed from Ex on the Beach early due to the death of her grandfather.[8] She went on to become a housemate in the seventeenth series of Celebrity Big Brother in 2016.[9] During her time in the house, she received a formal warning for using aggressive and threatening behaviour towards her fellow housemates.[10] She was the fourth housemate to be evicted having received the fewest votes to save, spending a total of 18 days in the house.[11] In March 2016, she joined The Only Way Is Essex as a full-time cast member.[6] In May 2017, McKenna launched her own restaurant, "MCK Grill", in Woodford Green.[12] Later in 2017, she released a range of hair extension pieces with Easilocks.[13] McKenna made her final appearance on The Only Way Is Essex on 25 October 2017, expressing an interest in focusing on her music career.[14]

In 2017, McKenna starred in her own reality series, There’s Something About Megan. The series focused on McKenna travelling to Nashville to begin a career in country music.[15] The series consisted of three episodes, and aired on ITVBe.[6] After the series finale, McKenna launched her music career, releasing her debut extended play, featuring "High Heeled Shoes" and "Far Cry from Love". The two songs topped the British iTunes chart within 24 hours of their release, and on the UK Singles Chart, "High Heeled Shoes" peaked at number 43, with "Far Cry From Love" peaking at number 53.[16][17]

In December 2017, McKenna embarked on her first headlining tour to promote the release of "High Heeled Shoes", which consisted of four dates, visiting The Sugarmill, The Venue, Palace Theatre and Scala.[18] In July 2018, she supported Michael Bublé at the British Summer Time show at Hyde Park.[19][20] On 26 July 2018, McKenna released her debut autobiographical book, Mouthy, published by John Blake.[21] The book topped the Sunday Times bestseller list.[22] In August 2018, she released her debut clothing range, Studio Mouthy.[23] This accompanies her makeup range, Mouthy Cosmetics.[24] Later that month, McKenna took part in the first series of Celebs on the Farm.[25] She was eliminated second, finishing in seventh place. McKenna released her debut album Story of Me on 7 December 2018.[26] The album peaked at number four on the UK Country Chart.[27] From May 2019 to September 2019, McKenna embarked on the Story of Me Tour across the United Kingdom.[28][29] In February 2019, she participated in the sixth series of the E4 reality series Celebs Go Dating.[30]

From October to November 2019, McKenna competed in the ITV series The X Factor: Celebrity.[31] For her audition, she performed "Everything but You", a song from Story of Me.[32] On 30 November, she was crowned the winner of the competition with 46.3% of the final vote, winning a record deal with Syco.[33][34]

In February 2020, McKenna began recording her second studio album,[35] and later that month, it was announced that she is set to support Lionel Richie on the British leg of his 2021 tour.[36] In August 2020, McKenna released a clothing range with online retailer In The Style.[37] On 5 February 2021, McKenna announced that "This" would be released as a single on 19 February 2021.[38]

Personal life

In 2016, McKenna revealed that she suffers from coeliac disease.[39][2] In March 2016, she began dating The Only Way Is Essex cast member Pete Wicks, but the pair broke up in 2017.[40]

In October 2019, McKenna revealed in an interview with Beth Neil of Fabulous that she had dissolved her lip fillers, stopped drinking alcohol and begun attending therapy.[41]

Filmography
As herself
Year Title Notes
2009 Britain's Got Talent Part of music duo Harmony
2010, 2016–2017 The Only Way Is Essex Series regular
2015–2016 Ex on the Beach Series 3 main cast, Series 4 ex
2016 Celebrity Big Brother Housemate; 10th place
2017 There's Something About Megan Lead role; 3 episodes
2018 Celebs on the Farm Main cast; 6th place
2019 Celebs Go Dating Main cast
2019 The X Factor: Celebrity Contestant; winner

Discography
Main article: Megan McKenna discography

References
  1. Cooper, Lucy (10 May 2019). "EVERYTHING You Need To Know About Megan McKenna". Daily Feed. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  2. McKenna, Megan (2018). Mouthy. John Blake. ISBN 978-1786068958.
  3. Storey, Katie (25 November 2015). "Ex on the Beach's Megan McKenna auditioned for Britain's Got Talent". Reveal. Nat Mags. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  4. "REVEALED: Megan McKenna starred in The Inbetweeners before TOWIE and Ex On The Beach". OK! Magazine. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  5. Liam Coleman. "Who is Megan McKenna? Profile, videos, pictures and more of the Ex on the Beach star – the 2016 CBB housemates line-up". Radio Times. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  6. Bond, Kimberly. "Meet Megan McKenna - the reality star taking part in The X Factor: Celebrity". Radio Times. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  7. "Ex On The Beach season 4 episode 4: Megan McKenna has a full-on melt down over Jordan Davies' 'pikey' ex-girlfriend Lacey Fuller". Metro. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  8. "Megan McKenna posts emotional tribute to her late Grandad as fans rally to support her". OK! Magazine. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  9. Percival, Ashley (5 January 2016). "'Celebrity Big Brother' Contestant Megan McKenna Was Previously A 'Britain's Got Talent' Semi-Finalist, And Also Popped Up In 'TOWIE'". The Huffington Post. AOL. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  10. "CBB housemate Megan McKenna is given a formal warning after being restrained". BBC. 15 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  11. Miles, Tina (22 January 2016). "Megan McKenna EVICTED from CBB while crowd chant 'get Steph out'". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  12. Rigney, Catriona (21 April 2017). "TOWIE's Megan McKenna reveals interior of new restaurant". OK! Magazine. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  13. "Megan's Bouncy Blow". Easilocks Shop. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  14. Robinson, Abby (30 November 2018). "TOWIE stars reveal why they left the show". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  15. Earp, Catherine (29 June 2017). "Megan McKenna gets her own TV show: TOWIE babe heads to Nashville for new series that f". OK! Magazine. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  16. Butler, Will (7 September 2017). "TOWIE's Megan McKenna has somehow beat Taylor Swift in the iTunes charts". NME. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  17. "Megan McKenna". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  18. "Megan McKenna Announces A List Of UK Tour Dates After Success Of 'High-Heeled Shoes'". MTV. Archived from the original on 27 October 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  19. Warner, Sam (20 April 2018). "TOWIE's McKenna supporting huge musician this summer". Digital Spy. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  20. Bird, Sophie (17 July 2018). "Exclusive Interview: Megan McKenna at BST Hyde Park". Flavour. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  21. "Megan McKenna's first book to John Blake". The Bookseller. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  22. Clarke, Sophie (6 August 2018). "Megan McKenna's Mouthy is a Sunday Times Bestseller!". Bell Lomax Moreton. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  23. Geoghegan, Jill. "Little Mistress launches brand for reality TV star Megan McKenna". Drapers. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  24. Stiegman, Kelsey (11 November 2016). "People Are Accusing UK Celeb Megan McKenna of Copying Kylie Jenner's Lip Kits". Seventeen. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  25. "TOWIE's Megan McKenna, Louie Spence, Gogglebox's Sandi Bogle and more join C5's Celebs on the Farm". Digital Spy. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  26. "Megan McKenna's honest debut album 'Story of Me' Released 7th December". Building Our Own Nashville. 6 December 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  27. Peak positions for albums on the Country Artists Chart in the UK:
  28. Freeth, Becky (4 April 2019). "Megan McKenna works on new music in Nashville after Mike Thalassitis's death". Metro. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
  29. Smith, Carl (20 August 2019). "Megan McKenna EXCLUSIVE: "My album has been like therapy"". Heat. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  30. Warner, Sam (7 March 2019). "Celebs Go Dating's Megan McKenna fuming during awkward hungover date". Digital Spy. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
  31. Duke, Simon (12 October 2019). "When is X Factor: Celebrity on? ITV show returns with star lineup". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  32. Denman, Amy (19 October 2019). "Megan McKenna says The X Factor: Celebrity is her 'biggest opportunity'". OK! Magazine. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  33. Griffin, Louise. "X Factor: Celebrity crowns Megan McKenna winner after epic final show". Metro. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  34. "The X Factor: Celebrity voting results revealed!". ITV. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  35. "Megan McKenna breaks silence on romance rumours with ex boyfriend Pete Wicks after NTAs reunion". OK! Magazine. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  36. "Megan McKenna to tour with pop icon Lionel Richie - here's how you can get tickets". North Wales Live. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  37. "The best bits from Megan McKenna's babein' In The Style collection". Heat. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  38. @Megan_Mckenna_ (5 February 2021). "My track 'This' will be released on 19th February 🧚🏼 Click the link here to pre-order on iTunes and pre-save on Spotify/Apple. Thankyou all so much for being patient, it's an amazing feeling to finally be releasing music... it's just the beginning... 🤍" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  39. Hoenderkamp, Dr Renée (12 September 2017). "Everything you need to know about Megan McKenna's threatening condition". OK! Magazine. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  40. "TOWIE's Pete Wicks speaks out about Megan McKenna split". Heat. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  41. Neil, Beth (13 October 2019). "Mental Megs? No, I was just a broken young girl". Fabulous.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Dalton Harris		 Winner of The X Factor
2019		 Succeeded by
Real Like You
Preceded by
The Power of Love		 Winner's singles of The X Factor
It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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